Launching community-led local development (CLLD) post-2020.
Date: 2022-07-13
Institutions: Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Subjects: fisheries policy, fishing area, fishing industry, fishing regulations

European 
Commission

Launching community-led 
local development  
(CLLD) post-2020 

CLLD  or  “community-led  local  development”  is  a 
bottom-up approach to socio-economic development 
that brings local people together to decide how 
they want to improve their area. They do so by 
setting up partnerships of civil society, businesses 
and public bodies, called Local Action Groups (LAGs) 
or, in the fisheries context, often called fisheries LAGs 
or “FLAGs”. 

In 2014-2020, under the European Maritime and Fish-
eries Fund, CLLD was applied as an effective approach 
to addressing a range of challenges facing fisheries 
and aquaculture communities across the EU. Under 
the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture 
Fund (EMFAF), 2021-2027, coastal areas once again 
have the opportunity to launch – or re-launch – CLLD. 

CLLD’s key characteristics include:

 • a focus on a specific area and its inhabitants 
(rather than on a sector or type of activity). Areas 
covered  by  CLLD  should  be  subregional  so  as 
to be small enough to facilitate direct contacts 
between key stakeholders, but large enough to 
allow endogenous development (based on local 
resources). The most important thing is that the 
area  is  coherent  (has  common  characteristics 
in terms of its economy, social structure and/or 
natural or cultural resources etc.), and that the 
community can identify with it and have a sense 
of “belonging” to it.

Area

Partnership

Strategy

 • a local partnership (the Local Action Group or 
LAG), which is the driver of change in the area and 
which decides how CLLD funding should be used to 
achieve this change. The local partnership should 
involve all the key actors of the fisheries area and 
should be representative of the community (the 
fishing and aquaculture sector as well as other 
relevant economic sectors such as gastronomy 
or tourism, NGOs and community groups, local 
authorities and other public bodies, etc.).

 • a local development strategy developed in a 
participative manner, with the broad involvement 
of  inhabitants  and  organisations  active  in  the 
area, including the most vulnerable groups. The 
local strategy will lay the basis for the activities 
and projects that the LAG will support and which 
should complement each other, jointly contributing 

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LAUNCHING          CLLD POST-2020 

to the objectives agreed by the partnership. Under 
the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquacul-
ture Fund (EMFAF), local strategies should help 
communities in fisheries and aquaculture areas 
better exploit and benefit from the opportunities 
offered by the sustainable blue economy, capital-
ising on and strengthening environmental, cultural, 

social and human resources. These strategies may 
range from those which focus on fisheries or 
aquaculture to broader strategies directed 
at the diversification of local communities.

Together, these three elements: area, partnership 
and strategy form the core of the CLLD approach. 

Who does what in fisheries CLLD?

Managing Authority  
(national or regional)

 • designs the rules for the selection of local partnerships and strategies
 • publishes calls for local partnerships and strategies and selects the LAGs 
 • approves support to projects selected by the local group

Members of the LAG

 • define the area
 • develop a local strategy
 • define criteria and procedures for project selection
 • encourage and support potential project promoters
 •
 • monitor progress and adapt strategy or procedures as needed
 •

select projects

carry out self-evaluation and analyse reports of external evaluators  
(if relevant)

Employees of the LAG

 • prepare project application system
 • prepare and disseminate information about funding possibilities
 • undertake community outreach (animation) and help project promoters 

 •
 •

prepare their applications
support the selection process (without the right to vote)
carry out the administrative tasks of the local group (financed with 
running costs) and prepare reports
collect data necessary for monitoring of progress

 •
 • work with external consultants, including evaluators (if relevant)

Other local actors

 • participate in the development of the local strategy
 • express needs and develop ideas for projects
 •

submit applications for projects and carry them out, if the applications  
are approved

 • participate in the evaluation of results and reflection on changes  

in the strategy if needed

External consultants

 •
 •

can support the partnership in drafting the strategy
can carry out external evaluation

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Key steps to launch CLLD in your area

LAUNCHING          CLLD POST-2020 

NEW AREAS OR PARTNERSHIPS WHICH HAVEN’T  
IMPLEMENTED CLLD BEFORE

EXPERIENCED PARTNERSHIPS WHICH HAVE ALREADY  
IMPLEMENTED CLLD IN THEIR AREA

Put together a partnership involving the key organisations and 
individuals relevant to your area’s blue economy, and in particular the fisheries 
and/or aquaculture sector. It can be a good idea to start with a relatively small 
group of people who are willing to contribute voluntary effort and who are 
interested in the well-being of the whole area, not only their individual business 
or organisation. With time, as the partnership builds trust and recognition in 
the area, further partners should be invited and encouraged to participate, 
ensuring decisions are not monopolised by a restricted group of people.

Define your area: in addition to such factors such as proximity and critical 
mass, you should also take into account the national (or regional) rules defining 
the areas which are eligible for CLLD funding under EMFAF. While at the EU level 
all areas with fisheries or aquaculture are in principle eligible, many Member 
States or regions define more specifically the types of areas that can apply for 
funding, for example only areas located along the sea coast, or areas with a 
certain proportion of employment in fisheries can be eligible to receive funding. 
It is also advisable to get in touch with the relevant local authorities to ensure 
they are aware of the potential benefits of CLLD and support your initiative.

Communicate the intention of launching CLLD to the local 
community. This initial communication is essential to ensure transparency of your 
partnership’s work and mobilise the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders.

Reflect on what you have 
achieved so far and what 
needs to be changed or 
improved in the new period.

Changes may be needed 
in the focus of the local 
strategy, its objectives and 
types of activities envisaged.

New community outreach activities 
(animation) might help engage 
with parts of the community that 
have been hard to mobilise.

Changes to the criteria and/or 
procedures for selecting local 
projects may also be needed.

Better communicating of the LAG’s 
activities and the projects it has 
funded can improve visibility and 
encourage more people to get 
involved and present project ideas.

A new funding opportunity to 
re-think the area covered by your 
strategy - which may have to be 
reduced or expanded - or to adjust 
the composition of your partnership 
or the decision-making body, for 
example to associate new partners 
linked with blue economy sectors.

More information:  
You will find more information about starting starting CLLD 
for the first time in FARNET Guide 1 “Area-based development 
in EU fisheries areas”, and Guide 4 “Steps for success”.

More information:  
You will find suggestions for new themes to address in your 
strategy (local resource management, circular economy, smart and 
resilient coastal areas) in the relevant FARNET Guides.

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LAUNCHING          CLLD POST-2020 

FURTHER STEPS RELEVANT FOR ALL PARTNERSHIPS

Remember: many of these steps can happen in parallel!  
Don’t wait to complete one step before moving on to the next!

Develop (or update) your local development strategy:

starting with an analysis of your area, including identification of its needs 
based on the SWOT analysis, you will define your strategic objectives and 
types of activities you will carry out, or support other actors to carry out, in 
order to reach these objectives. You will also 
provide an estimate of the costs of these 
activities, i.e. the budget you will need to 
implement your strategy, and indicate 
the expected sources of funding: the 
EMFAF, other EU Funds if available, 
national/regional public funding, private 
contributions etc. Remember, your budget 
will never be sufficient to address all of your 
area’s needs! You should focus your strategy on a few priorities that are 
expected to have the greatest impact and show how your activities will be 
complementary to other initiatives, for example strategies for job creation or 
local economic development programmes. You should also try to check potential 

Your strategy  
is more than just an 
application for funding! If 
it is very long, prepare a 
shorter, easy to understand 
version. Make sure it is a living 
document known to the  
whole community.

Use cooperation  
projects to help achieve  
your strategic objectives!  
Go to FARNET Guide 20,  
Chapter 3 “Using 
cooperation effectively”.

linkages with any Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) relevant for your area.

See more information on developing your local strategy in FARNET Guide 20: “Forward-looking strategies for 
fisheries areas”.

Design (or update) the criteria and procedures for project selection

The procedure should ensure transparency of decision-making and 
facilitate the application process for beneficiaries as much as pos-
sible. The criteria should provide clear guidance to beneficiaries 
and to the members of the decision-making body, enabling the 
development and selection of high quality projects that correspond 
closely to the needs and strategic objectives identified by the LAG. 
High quality projects should bring about positive long-term change 
while offering value for money, ideally building on local resources 
and complementing other activities implemented in the area.

More information on ensuring high quality of your projects can be found 
in FARNET Guide 21: “Nurturing Quality Projects: A guide for FLAGs”.

Streamline the project 
selection process to help your 
beneficiaries. In certain countries 
the selection of projects takes less 
than 1.5 months (see FARNET  
Guide 19 “Delivering CLLD 
effectively”).

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LAUNCHING          CLLD POST-2020 

Design your animation and communication activities

The role of the local partnership’s staff and volunteers goes far beyond selecting projects for funding. They are 
also responsible for identifying potential project promoters, especially the “unusual suspects” who have not 
received EU funding before, encouraging them to apply and helping them prepare their applications. Another 
important role is to facilitate linkages between local stakeholders, for example between the fishing sector and 
the food chain or with the research community, as well as ensuring that the projects funded maximise synergies 
and, together, contribute to the LAG’s objectives. Effective communication activities are essential to ensure that 
all key stakeholders are mobilised and that potential beneficiaries are aware of the 
strategy and funding possibilities. They should also ensure that decision-makers 

and the broader public are aware of the results achieved with CLLD.

Stability and  
motivation of your staff  
is a key success factor  
of the local strategy  
implementation!

Set up (or ensure the continued operations of) the office 
and administration of the local group

While CLLD depends to a large extent on the voluntary involvement of local 
stakeholders, especially in the start-up phase, smooth implementation of 
the strategy and accountability for public funding require qualified staff and a 
well-organised office. Adequate funding, continuity of employment and opportu-
nities for capacity building are essential to enable the local partnership to recruit and maintain staff with the 
necessary skills and motivation.

You will find more information about designing FLAG operations in FARNET Guide 22 “Fit for the future: A guide 
for effective FLAGs”.

Set up a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system
of the strategy and of the operations of the local group. It is important that 
M&E is designed alongside the strategy development and that systems are 
set up early on to collect the relevant data from the beginning of the strategy’s 
implementation. This will ensure a focus on results and ongoing improvements 
while ensuring the information needed to evaluate results is readily available.

Peer to peer  
evaluation can be a  
powerful tool to improve  
your performance.

A comprehensive guide on CLLD evaluation will help you design your M&E system – see FARNET Guide 15: 
“Evaluating CLLD - Handbook for LAGs and FLAGs”.

Where to look for support?

FAMENET  is  a  specialised  service  contracted  by 
DG  MARE  to  support  the  implementation  of  the 
EMFAF; part of its responsibilities is networking and 
capacity building of all stakeholders involved 
in the implementation of CLLD under the EMFAF. 
If you have a question to FAMENET, please contact 
CLLD@famenet.eu.

You will find a lot of useful material on the former 
FARNET website (FARNET was supporting the imple-
mentation of CLLD under the EFF and EMFF in the 
period 2009-2021).
In many Member States there are National Networks 
which support local partnerships in fisheries areas 
by building their capacity, facilitating cooperation or 
promoting good practices – please check if there is a 
National Network in your country which can help you!

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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2022
© European Union, 2022

ISBN 978-92-76-53729-8
doi:10.2771/42620